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India China Border Dispute

Communication: The unconventional way by which India China can have border peace.

Besides keeping the security forces deployed at the border to safeguard the territory from outside forces, both India and China can adopt a sound communication system to avoid border confrontations.

In 2017 when the troops of India and China were engaged in a 73-day stand-off in the Doklam tri-junction, which even triggered fears of a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first informal summit in April 2018 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, months after the Doklam standoff. In the summit, the two leaders decided to issue “strategic guidance” to their militaries to strengthen communications so that they can build trust and understanding.

So, improving communication channels has been a big call ever since 2017, but in 2020 we are standing in the same place.

On May 10, 2020, as similar incidence took place when Indian and Chinese troops clashed in north Sikkim (Naku La), which adjoins the 3,448-kilometer Line of Actual Control (LAC) that informally delimits the disputed Sino-Indian frontier. At an altitude of more than 16,000 feet, Chinese and Indian troops engaged in hand-to-hand fighting and stone-pelting, with both sides sustaining “minor” injuries. The Indian Army’s statement claims the incident left 11 injured on the Indian side.

Reports have also emerged of similar scuffles in the eastern Ladakh on the night of May 5, 2020. In an area called “Finger-5” on the northern bank of the 134- km Pangong Tso (lake), which was one of the key battlegrounds during the 1962 Sino-Indian War, roughly 400 troops clashed. Mutually established protocols at the local level were used to diffuse the situation and disengage.

The challenge of India and China rubbing up against each other, as Nehru said long ago, is one that runs across the spine of Asia. The conflict between India and China has implications that go far beyond our borders. It is unfortunate INDIA CHINA BORDER DISPUTE that in this 70th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between them, peaceful coexistence has been replaced by armed coexistence.

At present the use of technology and improved communication channels seems to be the only possible way out to avoid border confrontation.